Dixie Christmas

We loaded the car Christmas Eve morning and headed south. While stopping for gas, Jed noticed that the gas was coming out the bottom of the car... lovely! We detoured back to the car shop where they spent an hour fixing the problem and then we headed off again. A few hours past our originally scheduled departure time! We made it to Hurricane just in time for the Beatty Christmas party.


Jed presenting his "gold" to everyone... I'm sure Werthers would have been a big hit with Mary and Joseph!

Baby Jesus & the cutest young shepherd

CHRISTMAS MORNING

We could hardly get Lucas to wake up Christmas morning. He was asleep on the living room floor. Kody tried his darnedest to wake him, but with no luck! Once everyone arrived, we forced him awake which he, of course, didn't complain about once he saw the presents!

Lucas could hardly stand to wait his turn to open his next gift. It was so fun to watch his excitement with everything he got. Kody on the hand only wanted whatever ever Talon opened! Although Lucas didn't technically get "a long slide and Christmas lights" he still tells everyone that's what he got! It makes me laugh!

He did get to go to Jumping Jacks to experience their long slides! He and Kody had a blast and Jed got a workout!

We had a great time spending Christmas with Jed's family this year. We stayed up late almost every night... not good for someone who had to get up with two early risers! I had to take a few naps! We played lots of games and enjoyed seeing and visiting with everyone. We came home Monday morning. That night my parents stayed with us on their way back from Aaron and Shara's. We had dinner at the Tawnya's and played a little Rock Band.

We hope you had a very enjoyable Christmas this year too!

A Few of my Favorite Things...

In no particular order... I don't feel like moving the pictures around!





MY SAVIOR




With out him there would be no point. He is the reason we try every day. He knows that we will have good days and bad. He's the constant in our lives that never changes, as long as we let him in. He helps me to a be a better mom and make it through the tough days. He really is the reason why we celebrate this time of year.





FUEL PUMPS




Why do cars have to break? On Saturday we were driving down the free just before Bountiful when Jed says "I think our car just died". Hello... we're moving at freeway speeds, how can it just die! With no possibility of revival, we waited for Tawn & Landon. They were about 20 minutes behind us. (We were headed to the Nicholas Christmas Party/Grandma 90th birthday.) Landon towed** us to a Honda dealership in Bountiful where they were unable to help us... Honda Passport = Izuzu. After towing us around to two other places, he eventually towed us (really just Jed, me and the boys rode in the truck) to Provo to the Izuzu dealer. They fixed the car yesterday and it works like a charm.. it better after $700! Although we missed the Nicholas party, it was probably for the better. The weather was terrible in Northern Utah with lots of accidents.



**Towing on freeway is not my favorite thing to do!



GOOD BOOK and (hopefully) GOOD MOVIE





I've been reading this book in hopes that I can finish it before seeing the movie. So far I'm loving it. I love that it's book that can make me smile, laugh, and just feel good. I'm excited for the movie and it's only PG!




TOPLESS UNDERSHIRTS



Blush

I heard about these when I was at the tail end of nursing Kody. I knew on my next pregnancy I was going to get one. They are actually not maternity shirts, but can be used for a variety of pregnancy related issues. Such as...


Pants to tight but not quite into maternity pants? Fold it and use it as a band to keep up pants up!



Maternity shirts to big, but regular clothes are getting to short? Use it as a long undershirt... works like a charm!



Nursing and tired of showing everyone your belly? (because face it... it happens to the best of us at one point or another, even if we think we're covered!) Since it is "topless" you don't have to lift it up. It stays put while you are nursing, never to be exposed again! I for one am excited for this!



And just because you've had your baby and are done nursing, don't put it away. Wear it!



I only have one, but I think I need about three more!



SIMPLY OJ



As if you didn't know!




MY NIECES and NEPHEW

I love being an aunt and my kids love having cousins! Since Reese lives the closest, she's the one with the picture, but we love them all so much!

BEING A MOM

This little boy can us make laugh like no one else. He's growing up and getting smarter and smarter. He loves preschool and Ms. Heather. He still makes us laugh daily. He loves to help me cook. I call him my little chef Remy and he calls me Linguine. Our lives wouldn't be the same with out his constant talking and active personality. He can keep going from sun up to sun down without skipping a beat (and it makes me tired)! He's potty trained and has done so good in the last few weeks with no accidents. I love this kid more and more everyday!

Kody's new cheesy face gives us lots of giggles. He loves to run (or prance) as fast as he can on his tippy toes. It's hilarious to watch so of course, we ask him to run often! He's learned how to throw tantrums which we've never had to deal with before. He loves to give kisses on both cheeks. He's a delight to have and our family wouldn't be complete with his fun spirit.

We hope you enjoy your holidays!

As Lucas would say... Merry Christmas to all, and to all, and to all!!

Lots of smiling parents with cameras...

can only mean one thing!





Lucas has his first preschool Christmas program Thursday night. He was so excited! He worked really hard on having his poem memorized and singing the songs. Despite a little lecture on what to do with our hands during the program, the finger still went up the nose! Jed and I were in the back (hence the many heads in the photos) and just smiled! That's our boy...

His class performing the "Chubby Snowman"

There was a chubby snowman

He had a carrot nose

Along came a bunny

and what do you suppose?

That hungry little bunny

was looking for his lunch

he grabbed the snowmans carrot nose

nibble, nibble, munch!

Dear Santa...

Hi Santa,

I want for tris

I want tristmas lights and a long slide.

I hope to see you soon.

(Me in the background... "Love")

Santa

Bye!

(In the background... "I left a message for Santa!")

And then the nice Vonage people emailed the message back to me! Love it!

Welcome Jed...

to the 28 club!

I decided to see how well Lucas knows his dad...

1. What is dads favorite color? Blue
2. What is dads favorite movie? Star Wars
3. What is dads favorite food? Macaroni
4. What is dads favorite drink? Dr. Pepper
5. What color is dads hair? Short
6. What is dads favorite thing to do? Work
7. Where does dad work? In China
8. What is dads favorite song? I am a Child of God
9. How old is dad? 6
10. What color are dads eyes? brown or blue, wait... are they brown?
11. Who is dads best friend? Me, you mean Jake.
12. What is dads favorite game? Hide and Seek
13. What is your favorite thing to do with dad? I know... Shamu!
14. Who is dads hero? Me

Happy Birthday to you! We are really lucky to have such an amazing dad and husband. You work so hard for us and we really appreciate it. We love you so much and hope that you have a wonderful day.

A Few Pregnancy Updates...

I'm officially 16 weeks (starting 17th week) today. For some reason, that still doesn't feel very far along to me. Almost like it should still be a secret!

I can still feel this baby move every once in awhile... not consistenly, but definitely moving. Hopefully that doesn't mean he or she will be sticking the feet in my rib cage sooner!!

I'm still addicted to Simply Orange Juice with ice, every morning at 6 am.

I've had some pretty serious, daily, headaches associated with this pregnancy. So bad, that one morning I woke up crying because my head was in so much pain. I think I scared Jed. Sometimes they cause nausea. Luckily they are starting to be fewer and farther between. I've narrowed down the source to I think, sleep and eating. If I don't eat the minute I'm hungry, I can almost guarantee a headache. Having two very active children during the day has made me extremely tired at night. I could go to bed at 7 and not wake up til morning.

My pants are getting tighter, but not quite maternity tight yet. I'm sure it'll happen sooner than later.

We're excited to find out boy or girl in January.

And for your viewing pleasure, a picture of my progress taken today.



p.s. All pictures posted recently have been from the laptop with very limited editing features... therefore I have no tan and my hair needs cut really bad.

Visiting the Doctors

Monday we spent a good portion of the day visiting the doctors. While getting ready in the morning, Lucas asked me "Mom, is the doctor going to check my feelings?"

My appointment was first and everything seems to be on track. We'll find out what we are having in January. Jed met us there and afterwards we went for a guacamole bacon burger, cheese fries and the ultimate dipping sauce at the fabulous Training Table. Maybe not the healthiest, but most definitely the yummiest!

Next was Lucas & Kody's well check appointments. Lucas weighed in at 42 pounds & 44 inches tall. Kody was 35 1/2 inches tall & 24 lbs 13 ozs (I think). Both are doing great. We did end up leaving with antibiotics for Lucas. Apparently he also has a sinus infection which is doing much better since being on meds. Lucas was so excited to get his flu shot... funny kid! He was so brave and didn't cry. Kody had 4 shots and was less than thrilled about it. In general, he's not to fond of the doctor. Lucas on the other hand, loves to see Dr. B.

I did talk to the dr. about Lucas' random sick episodes. We can almost guarantee he'll get sick and throw up at least once a month (happened again last night). It usually happens in the evening and comes on really fast. He sleeps it off and is fine the next morning. Dr. B thinks he has something similar to migraines, all the symptoms minus the actual headache. Although he complains his head hurts during some of the episodes. When I was younger I use to experience headaches almost daily (they lessened when I cut my hair) and my dad still deals with them quite often. He said it may be something he's inherited. What a bummer thing to inherit!

I was also able to get my flu shot when they gave the boys theirs. This is the first flu shot I've ever had. Not to fond of needles, but had to be brave for Lucas!

I have a 4 year old!

Today is our Lucas' birthday! Now that the days pretty much over says it was a great day. We're winding down right now by watching "Kung Fu Panda" and eating Swedish fish! I have a feeling he's not going to make it far before we're carrying him up to bed (or they're carrying me to bed)!

I can't believe it's been 4 years since he surprised us by arriving 4 1/2 weeks ahead of schedule. I was in labor a good portion of the day that Sunday but didn't realize it. I thought I was having braxton hicks. It wasn't until about 11:00 that evening that I started to realize something wasn't right. Jed was already in bed, but I couldn't sleep. I started timing the contractions and I think they were about 3 minutes apart. I woke Jed up and we headed to the hospital. I was shocked when the nurse announced I was at a 9 and we'd be having a baby soon. Lucas Mark entered the world all wound up in the cord at 3:23 am, 3 hours after entering the hospital. It was a definite blessing in our lives to have him come when he did.




He came bounding into our room a little after 7 this morning. I told him happy birthday and he responded with "today is my REAL birthday.... but my feet haven't grown". Um... okay! We let him open his presents in bed. Grandma & Grandpa Valentine stopped by and he was excited to to see them and have more presents to open! We went to lunch at the Pizza Factory and they gave Lucas a pizza shaped like the number 4.

Tonight was our ward Christmas party. Lucas was quite impressed that all those people were there for his party. :) After a little program by the YM/YW and the primary, Santa made an appearance... the perfect present for the birthday boy!

Lucas... we love you and are so glad you are part of our family!

A Little Holiday Cheer

We put our tree up for FHE this week. A star did sit atop the tree at one point, but with Kody's help of redecorating all the time, the star has since toppled off and may or may not be put back on.

Grandma Valentine gave Lucas a gingerbread house kit that we put together this week after Kody went to bed! It was lots of fun and Lucas even decorated part of it by himself. He was more interested in eating the candy before we could put it in the icing.

Lucas' side...

Oh man... I love this boy!

And how would a holiday be complete without the eggnog. Not regular eggnog, but eggnot with sprite & vanilla ice cream. Yumm-o!


And here's the pictures of Lucas and Kody with Santa at Willard Bay during Thanksgiving. Lucas could hardly wait to finally sit on his lap. It's fun to live through his excitement over things like this.

Gramps & Lucas

Checkin' out Santa's reindeer.

And of course, not everything is hunky dory around here. Wednesday night I had to run Kody up to the doctor. He hasn't been feeling to good and that day he reached a fever around 103. Poor kid has another sinus infection. He's been on antibiotics and will be for another 7 days. I think he's finally starting to feel better tonight... lets hope!

December Already?

Sorry for the lack of blog posts... maybe one day the blogger in me will return!



We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know we did. This year we spent Thanksgiving at my parents. We started off the festivities with a birthday party Wednesday night for Reese, who is now 1.



Thanksgiving was delicious, as always! There were 19 of us which made for a cozy dinner. This year Jim, Melanie, Ty, Amanda, Jeff, CJ, Logan & Jeff's parents joined us. We had a great time visiting and enjoying some serious laughs over a came Jess was trying to teach us! Jed & Landon left later that night to head back home. Jed was going to California Friday morning with a few guys from work to the USC game. I missed having him spend the weekend with us, but he said he had a good time.



I'm normally not a Black Friday person, but this year my dad was in the market for a laptop. He woke Tawn & I up at 3:45 to head over to Logan. We had about a 15 minute wait before the doors opened at Best Buy. We didn't get one of the "golden tickets" for the laptops so we decided to try our luck at Walmart. That place is nuts! You have to be crazy to go in there at 5 in the morning!! While we were debating a guy came up and offered us his ticket to for a laptop at Best Buy. He wanted $50 for the ticket, but took $25. We then went back over to Best Buy and stood in line for 2 hours waiting to buy the it! I pretty sure my dad was happy with the outcome!



Friday night we drove down to Willard to visit with my grandparents. Afterwards we drove through the lights at Willard Bay and stopped to see Santa and his reindeer. Lucas, of course, told him the same thing he tells everyone... "I want Christmas lights & a long slide".



Saturday mom mom, Jess, Tawn & I along with Melanie, Amanda & Nancy went to see Twilight. My dad was kind enough to stay home with the 3 kids. We put Kody & Reese down for a nap before we left. The movie was okay, but I thought it was extremely choppy. I was disappointed in the character development and felt there as no rhyme or reason to certain parts. I hope the next one is better, although New Moon was my least favorite book!



The boys are in heaven when they are with their grandparents and could have cared less if I was there! We had a great time spending these last few days with family. I have the best family in the world and I'm so grateful for them. We love you!

Boss for the Day

28 big smackaroos... and yet I only feel 27. Go figure!



Saturday was my birthday. How cool is it when you bday falls on Saturday?! I began the morning by waking up around 6 am and not being able to go back to sleep. Since starting my new work schedule 6-8, 9-11. It's hard to sleep past 6. Lucas eventually found his way into our room about 6:30 and Kody followed not long after that. Jed got me a glass of orange juice and then I opened my presents in bed with the assistance of two little munchkins! Jed fixed yummy French Toast for us and he also baked me a carrot cake!



I spent the rest of the morning answering birthday phone calls and getting ready. Nathan & Mariann gave us tickets for our birthdays to Body Worlds in SLC. They were kind enough to watch the kids and we really appreciate it. I had been wanting to go to it so I was very excited to get the tickets. Jed and I really enjoyed it. It was extremely fascinating to look at those bodies and realize that my insides look like that too! Heavenly Father sure knew what he was doing when he created us! As a little side note... if you're planning to go on the weekend, may I suggest before 2. We had tickets for 2 and it worked out great, although we had to stand in line for 45 minutes or so, it wasn't too bad. When we left, the line was huge with probably a good two to three hour wait (at least) and than 1 1/2 hours to walk through. Maybe the line was moving faster than that, but I still wouldn't have wanted to stand in it!



Since I was the boss for the day (according to Jed), I suggested we grab something to eat at Costa Vida. Frankly I've been craving it and it's been months since I've eaten there! Yumm-o! We went and picked up the boys and then headed home where I crashed on the couch around 8!



I had a fabulous day. Thanks to Jed and everyone who made it very special. I love you all!







What's with all the bold you ask...



They're clues....



1. It's hard to sleep past 6. I do start work at 6 every morning, but is also means I usually have to use the bathroom around this time (and sometimes earlier).

2. Jed got me a glass of orange juice. Every morning I have to have my glass of Orange Juice WITH Ice cubes!

3. I've been craving it. Okay, this really isn't one, cause I crave Costa Vida every day of the year!


4. Crashed on the couch around 8. One word... Exhausted!

We're expanding... Number 3 is on the way. We had our first appointment a week and a half ago where we were able to hear the heartbeat. (Always a happy moment for me) I'm 12 weeks and a few days along. We're expecting this little one to make an entrance around May 29th. Although 3 seems a bit overwhelming right now, I'm confident he or she will just fit right in.

Now... one question. Is it weird to already be feeling this baby move?????? Cause they're a movin' and I can definitely feel it!

Happy 50th Grandma

This past week we did a lot of lying! And... it didn't feel good! Talease was planning a 50th birthday suprise for her mom on Saturday, which should have been pretty easy for us to keep since we live up North. Um....No... Paulette had to come up here for a meeting on Friday and wanted to stop and see the kids. Since we were planning to leave early to head south, we told a big story! Jed said he was still at work, I was taking pictures and the kids would be at Tawnya's. Jed parked his truck in the garage, just in case she might stop by... and she did! But we weren't home! It made me feel awful, but I think the end result was fun.

We stayed at Shane and Talease's. Talease did an awesome job making sure this all worked out. I think she was suprised!

Happy 50th Birthday! We Love you!

The grandkids put their handprints on the sign


Two die hard partiers!

Uncle Nathan & Lucas waitin' for grams.

The whole family....

Our host and hostess for the weekend!

Public vs. Private

I've been going back and forth on this little issue for the past few days. I'll admit, it use to bug me when people would put their blogs private. I figured I was an open book, why couldn't they be!



I've been blogging for almost 3 years now and the "newness" of it has wore off, I find it actually difficult for me to sit down and write a post (just check out how many posts I had in October). Our boring lives could be partially at fault for that!! I've always been very cautious about mentioning our trips until we're back. But now, I'm more cautious about mentioning anything about the kiddos. I've seen to many stories recently.



Having a public blog has its advantages too... reconnecting with long lost friends, family, etc. Reading some of the most amazing stories, ever! Checking the blogs without actually having to go to them (thank you RSS feeds!) Although, that has made me completely lazy cause I hardly ever leave comments now... sorry about that!



In the end, the safety of my family won out. I know it may be an inconvenience for some, but I've decided to publicly announce we're going private!! :)



If you'd like to continue reading our epic journey through this life (which I'm sure will have movie rights one day), leave your email in the comments (or email it to me) and I'll make sure to get you added. I'm giving you a week (possibly more)!

Happy Halloween

It's a little beside the fact now, but still needed to document the cuteness of my pirate and octopus! Grandpa & Grandma Nic came down to celebrate. Our ward did a trunk or treat at the church. I love being able to get it all done at once. Maybe one day we'll do the traditional way, but for now, I prefer fast and easy! Lucas was so excited to be a pirate. He's been talking about it for months. He came away with lots of loot. Kodes wasn't so sure about all the hype. He preferred to stare rather than take! It's a good thing grama was there to make sure he didn't leave empty handed! We even got a few stragglers knocking on our door. Although Halloween is not my favorite holiday, it's still fun to watch the kiddos get so excited! We loved having grampa Mark & grama Carole here with us. And even Tawn & Minnie (Reese) stayed the night. One big sleep over! Lucas went home with my parents and Tawnya on Saturday and will come back in a couple of days. Jed had to work all day Saturday which I didn't think was much fun. We did enjoy the nice outcome of the BYU game!